(music)
favorite story?
I'd say the two years that I was on the Turf Team.
Just being a part of that community, I was part of the Turf Team.
I also really loved all the field trips that we got to go on.
We had a really successful season, and those are my brothers.
And I'll never forget the season we had and the memories we made.
the turtle is because I took 15 years to get back here.
So I found after 15 years, I graduate college.
it'ss finally... it's been a long time coming.
You know, I actually started way back in 2014.
after we found out we were going to be having our daughter.
That's when I was like, you know, I got to finish it
with doing what I when I started, you know?
Class of 2025!
Let's go! 2025!
My journey, like many of yours, began with humble
beginnings. It's about dreaming beyond what feels realistic, and knowing
that you have the power to completely redefine your family's legacy.
You know, I'm a first generation college student.
You know, I was a veteran.
I was formerly incarcerated. I was a gang member.
You know, I was addicted to drugs. that's what makes it better.
Going through hard times and challenges to keep growing is to keeps bettering
yourself. Embrace that fear. Embrace what you're about to face.
It's it's going to be scary.
extremely, just to get up in the morning and deal with life
and and try to make it, but never give up.
even when you're going through the worst of times
and things may seem impossible. There's always a way.
To never give up and keep going.
(yelling)
So I was, medically discharged, for PTSD.
I was doing so well in the Marine Corps, gave me a sense of purpose,
And I think that's what happens with a lot of us when we get out.
We don't have a purpose.
it was a really dark time. Went through my divorce.
I went into deep depression, addiction.
I was influenced, to come to Mt. SAC or even go to college,
from a Marine that passed away.
And he told me, I have I gone to the Veterans Center.
everyone here at the Veterans Center that works here is amazing.
They're doing such a great job
helping us with our educational benefits, getting everything we need.
Mt. SAC takes the time and the love and the community to be inclusive
and caring. And for people who think that they have to do everything by themselves,
are making things so much harder for themselves because it's not true.
Try everything and open yourself up to it.
And it's okay to say that this isn't for m
Let's try something new.
I was not prepared
for a four year institution at all because of the pandemic,
because I just had no motivation whatsoever.
Yeah, I was a straight-A student, and I was just.
I just had kind of lost my way.
And even now, I'm still going through a lot of, like, life transitions.
I came to Mt SAC, like, starting fresh, like, hoping for a new start.
and I'm going to UC Berkeley now.
(cheering)
You know, I,
I lived on Skid Row for 15 years.
I, I spent over a decade there.
had a judge and
one time he told me, you know,
I take personal offense, that you're such a public nuisance.
And he told me, I bet my robes
that you'll never make it out of Skid Row.
And I'll never forget that ever in my life.
I was pretty much voluntold to come here by my probation officer
after I got out of jail.
And she pointed me in the Rising Scholar direction
and pretty much said, that's what you're going to do.
That's where you're going to go.
I never really understood that there was a community of people like me.
And I never really understood that people came to college that got out of jail.
I didn't I didn't know that.
I didn't understand that I had no idea that people did that.
It shows that anybody from any background
can make something of themselves.
And that's what Mt. SAC made me feel like.
I didn't think that would be me.
And I have watched previously incarcerated students come and grow,
you know, just because it's a family and a community of people who want to change.
they have a lot of scholarships available specifically for horticulture students.
And so I was able to apply to, a lot of them, and I was able to get
a bunch of scholarships It's I guess up
to $55,000 a year, which is incredible.
But it's also to be part of a community of scholars
and to join something that I could never imagine being a part of.
I will become a scholar for all the people that
that didn't get a second chance.
You know, all these people that I that don't make it out.
Congratulations Mounties! ( cheering)
Oh! That was great. Mt. SAC was amazing. Go Mt. SAC.
Being in the Black Student Center
and beinga part of that association
and the program was a blessing, and it helped me a lot along the way.
also been part of CalWorks and CARE And then,
I've also been part of ACES and EOPS. There's so many programs here.
I don't know why you can't succeed.
There is an incredible amount of resources.
SEED helped me a lot.
It's kind of like work study program, but it's not quite work.
Study.
What it is is, Almost like, internship, I would say.
And it's, it's stuff that you could actually use on your resume
Mt. SAC has a program for everything, it's pretty amazing
I was a part of Promise Plus.
That was a great program.
That program is, I was probably the first 44 year old freshman
(laughs)
I went to Mt. SAC
and I met these people, and I was part of this organization
and this club in this program and use the programs, these are resources.
And without that, this school is just a school.
(music)